Collapsible derrick



s I I April 12, 1938 s Dim-LE 2,114,215

COLLAPSIBLE DERRICK Filed June 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l 772012265SfiZetZe INVENTOR Patented Apr. 12, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6Claims.

The invention relates to collapsible derricks and has for its objecttoprovide a device of this character constructed in a manner whereby itsuprights and crown block may be assembled on the ground, or adjacent theground and then the structure forced to a vertical position therebyspreading the lower ends of the uprights on the base on which thederrick is mounted and allowing the uprights to be tied together bygirders.

A further object is to provide the uprights, at one side of the derrick,with telescopic connections pivoted to the base and forming meanswhereby, when the uprights are in lowered position adjacent the ground,they will assume positions adjacent each other, and when forced to anupright position the telescopic connections will guide their uprights toproper position.

A further object is to guide the lower ends of the uprights having thetelescopic connections whereby said lower ends are guided onto bossescarried by hinged plates forming supporting means for the uprights.

A further object is to connect the lower ends of the uprights to hingedplates carried by the derrick base, which plates are provided withbosses extending into the upright ends and holding means for anchoringsaid hinged plates against movement when the uprights are in raisedposition.

A further object is to hingedly connect the upper ends of the uprightsto the crown block, and the lower ends of the uprights to the basewhereby the structure without the girders may have a substantialparallel collapsing movement when the derrick is lowered or assembled,and an open or extended movement when the derrick is raised.

A further object is to form the uprights from a limited number ofsections or connections thereby preventing weakening of the uprights byuse of a plurality of short sections connected together by sleeves towhichthe ends of the girders are connected.

A further object is to provide the uprights with ttings having spacedears, between which the vertical flanges of the girder ends are receivedand held, against spaced shoulders.

A further object is to' provide a collapsible derrick formedfromuprights hingedly connected to a base at theirlower. ends and to acrown block at their upper ends, and adapted to be assembled on theground and moved to a vertical position, and to provide the uprightswith fittings adapted to receive the girder ends for forming a rigidstructure and obviating the danger, time and labor now necessary inbuilding derricks piece by piece from a base upwardly.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown inthe drawings, described and claimed, it being understood that changes inthe precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without, departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the derrick, showing the same assembledin full line'and in collapsed condition in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the derrick showing the derrick collapsedin dotted lines.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through one of thehinged anchoring plates and a portion of one of the telescopic uprightends.

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the spaced girderholding sleeves.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the hinged base plates for oneof the telescopic upright ends.

Figure 6 is a vertical transverse sectional view through one of theupright joints.

Figure '7 is a perspective view of the upper end of the derrick showingthe crown block.

Figure 8 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on line 8-8 ofFigure 7.

In derricks heretofore constructed the various uprights have been formedfrom a plurality of short pipe sections having connecting fittings, towhich the horizontal girders are attached, however this multiplicity ofjoints weakens the derrick, particularly when it is high for instanceeighty or a hundred feet, and the derrick as a whole has to be built uppiece by piece which involves considerable labor and time, which isdangerous, as many of the parts are heavy and are handled under greatdifiiculty.

In the present device the uprights I and 2 of the derrick are assembledadjacent the ground level 3, and preferably on a supporting member 4,and after so assembled the uprights are pulled to a vertical position inany suitable manner, preferably by guy lines 5, and after which theconnecting girders 6 are placed in position.

Each of the uprights l and 2 is formed from a plurality of sectionsjoined together at I, for instance in two sections, thereby preventingweakening of the joints and structure as a whole. The uprights are alsoprovided with girder supporting sleeves 8 at spaced intervals. Thejoints the upper ends of the uprights l and 2.

l, referring to Figure 6', are preferably formed from connector members9 having their upper ends welded or otherwise secured at ill in one ofthe upright sections, and their lower tapered ends it held in thetapered sleeve iii in the upper end of the lower upright section andsecurely held therein by a set bolt 53, therefore it will be seen that arigid braced joint is formed. The connector members it are provided withspaced ears it, which receive therebetween a vertical flange lid of oneof the girders 6, and said girder ends are securely held in place bybolts l6 extending through the ears it and the flanges. It will be notedthat the connector members 9 are provided with inwardly offset shouldersll engaging the girder ends.

By inwardly offsetting the shoulders ll, it will be seen the girders canbe lowered into position between the ears M, for instance from thedotted line position shown in Figure 6, and by providing spacedshoulders ll, they will engage the girder ends at spaced points andinsure a positive holding thereof. The horizontal flanges l8 of thegirders overlie the upper sides of the ears M as clearly shown in Figure4. In Figure 4 is shown the girder supporting sleeves ii, which arewelded at 59 to the uprights, however they are provided with spaced earsM and shoulders I'l, similar to those shown in Figure 6 for thereception of girder ends. All of these parts are assembled while theuprights l and 2 are in the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1.

After assembling of the uprights l and 2 in the dotted line positionshown in Figure 1, the crown block 26 is placed in position. The crownblock 25 comprises a plurality of transversely extending I beams 2i,having their ends rockably mounted on transverse shafts 22, which extendbeyond the sides of the crown block and are rockably mounted in sleevefittings 23 carried by To maintain the sleeve fittings 23 on the shaftends, pins 23 are provided, which extend through the sleeves and shaftends, thereby preventing displacement of the sleeve and allowing the Ibeam ends to rock on the shafts during the derrick raising or loweringoperation. Extending downwardly from one of the shafts 22 are pivotallymounted arms 25, between which is rotatably mounted a sand sheave 2'5,over which conventional derrick rigging extends. The lower ends of theuprights l are connected to hinged plates 21, hlngedly mounted at 28 onbrackets 29 carried by the derrick base Bil, similar to the plates shownin Figure 5 for supporting uprights 2.

Hinged plates 27 are rigimy held against hinged movement by means ofholding down bolts 3!, as shown in figure 5 and Figure 3. When thedevice is lowered the nuts are removed from these bolts to allow thehinged plates ii to hingedly move so the uprights may assume the dottedline position shown in Figure 1, or the vertical position when beingraised. All of these plates are similarly constructed, however theplates 27! carried by the uprights 2 are provided with upwardly taperedportions 32 having secured-thereon inner telescopic members 33, whichare preferably tubular and of smaller diameter than the inner diameterof the lower ends of the uprights 2. It will be noted that by providingthis play movement relative to the difference in size of uprights 2 andinner telescoplomember 3, the telescoping action will be a free one andwhen the derrick is raised the lower ends of the uprights 2 will slideover the upwardly tapered portions 32 into engagement with the plates23, and will be held against lateral displacement by the taperedportions After the raising operation the holding down bolts 35 aretightened for holdingthe plates Z'i against pivotal movement.

After the raising operation the girders ii are assembled in the variousfittings carried by the uprights thereby forming a rigid derrickstructure, and one which may be quickly assembled and disassembled withthe minimum amount of labor, time and cost. The crown block 20 maysupport the usual mechanism, for instance the crows nest and variouspulleys 34.

From the above it will be seen that a collapsible derrick structure isprovided which can be entirely assembled with the exception of thegirders,

while in a collapsed position adjacent the groundgrade movement after itis erected. ihis pin is also shown in Figure 5.

The invention having been set forth what is claimed as new and usefulis:

1. A collapsible derrick comprising a base, upwardly extending corneruprights hingedly connected to the base, a crown block to which theupper ends of the corner uprights are hingedly connected, girdersdetachably connecting the uprights, the lower ends of the uprights atone side of the derrick having an extensible connection to the base andforming means whereby when the girders are removed and the uprights arehlngedly collapsed towards the ground, said uprights will assumepositions adjacent each other and when raised all of the uprights willbe practically the same length and the crown block substantiallyhorizontally disposed.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the lower ends of theuprights are connected to hinged plates carried by the base and meansfor holding said hinged plates against hinged movement when the uprightsare in raised positions.

3. A device as set forth in claim l'includlng hinged plates carried bythe base and to which the lower ends of the uprights are connected, thehinging point of the plates being disposed to one side of the uprightsand means for holding said hinged plates from movement when the uprightsare in raised position.

4. A device as set forth in claim I wherein the extensible connectionscomprise a loosely mounted member extending into the lower ends ofuprights, hinged plates on which said loosely mounted members arerigidly held, said hinged plates being hingedly connected to the base.

5. The combination with a derrick having cor ner uprights, the uprightsat one side thereof having telescopic connection to a base, saidconnection comprising a hinged plate, an upwardly extending memberloosely mounted in the lower end of the uprights and a conical portioncarried by the plate and forming means for centering the uprights whenthey are in raised position.

6. The combination with a device as set forth in claim 5, of means foranchoring the hinged plates to the base when the uprights are in raisedpositions.

THOMAS S. BEETLE.

